We said a sad “Kwaheri!” (goodbye) to Kenya on Saturday … arrived late that night in glittering Dubai … spent the next day trying hard to stay out of the 47-degree midday sun … rode some desert-dunes in the late afternoon … dined in a Bedouin camp as the sun went down … then grabbed a few all-too-brief hours in bed, before returning to the airport and blasting off for Godzone, on the other side of the world.

There’s so much more I could’ve and should’ve written … so many more pix I might’ve shared. In fact, given half the chance I could still bore you to death several times over. But allow me to record a few elephant memories (these big, intelligent mammals are my African favourites) plus some parting shots from other animals that caught the eye during our final hours out on the game-parks.

Look closely and you’ll see what they’re squabbling over – a wilderbeest.

An elegrant Grants gazelle

A tiny dik-dik, the smallest of all the antelopes, just 30-40cm at the shoulder.

Nice colourscheme, eh?

We spotted this hyena with something in its mouth. Look closely and you’ll see that it’s a …

… leg of zebra, with hoof stiff attached. Yum!

A 2.5 metre python, first spotted crossing the road in front of one of our 4WDs.

As a special treat on our last Nairobi morning we visited an elephant orphanage – home, at the moment, for 26 bumbling, tumbling, cute-as baby elephants from all over Africa. Many of them are orphans, their parents killed by poachers, after their tusks; others were found lost and hungry, separated from their parents by the inevitable man-versus-wildlife clashes that occur; still others were found down waterholes or caught in traps (like the tiny little fellow we saw whose trunk was almost severed by a wire snare).

Here, in this sanctuary, they are fed and cared for, allowed to play roly-poly with their friends in the red dust and mud-holes, then returned to the bush at the age of three and adopted into suitable wild herds.

Hard to think of a nicer, more lingering memory to take with us …

Yours bloggedly – JOHN

P.S. Would you like to join us on our NEXT AFRICAN SAFARI? We’ll most likely go again in 2020 (three years from now). Get in early, so you don’t miss out! Register your interest now by calling Dianne on 0508 323 333 or emailing midlifemadness@travelmanagers.co.nz.

P.P.S. If you want to receive future Mad Midlife Travel Blogs in your INBOX, just sign-up (top-right) for your free Email Subscription! And if you’d like to leave a message for someone in our group, just click on the little speech bubble at the top of this entry, and add your comments! (Keep it brief – and be sure to say who it’s for and who it’s from.)

There are lots of things about this African Safari that I find hard to describe … lots of things that even photos can’t convey … lots of things you can only appreciate by BEING HERE.

Take landscapes, for example. We’ve lost count of the different landscapes we’ve traversed here in East Africa. From gently rolling plains smothered in acacia trees, to golden-grass savannas stretching to the horizon … from parched, sun-baked dust-pans, to lush-green swampy wetlands. A few days ago, for example, we found ourselves in a place that can only be described as remarkable …

Sunday: NGORONGORO CRATER

This World Heritage Site has been called the Eighth Wonder of the Natural World – the biggest intact volcanic caldera on the planet and the largest ‘zoo’ on earth. We slept two nights high up on the rim, driving in the misty early-morning down 600 metres onto the crater floor … one of the most picturesque settings we’d seen on our safari, and an animal population so used to humans that you can almost “reach out and touch”.

Tuesday: LAKE MANYARA

This scenic gem, extolled by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I had ever seen in Africa”, kept our cameras busy. Baboon troops lounging along the roadside, blue monkeys (you oughta see their privates!) scampering between the ancient mahogany trees, oversized hornbills honking loudly in the high canopy, and truly extraordinary birdlife. 400 different species have been spotted here, and while we didn’t spot anything like 400, we did our level best.

Below are more of the weird and wonderful birds that we’ve seen over the past two weeks – a feast-for-sore-eyes, I’m sure you’ll agree. We saw LOTS MORE than these (some of our group have been ticking them off in a book about ‘Birds of East Africa’ – and they spotted the 100th yesterday). But these are a few that we managed to catch on camera … some of them huge and hard to miss (like the fish eagles, the vultures and the secretary birds) … others small and quick to take flight (like the scarlet-chested sunbird) … some so well-camouflaged they were nearly impossible to see (like the strangely-named water thick-knee) … others so beautifully coloured they took our breath away (like the tiny malachite kingfishers; the first photo shows the pygmy variety, barely 10cm long; the second, a standard malachite, a little bigger, with the fish in its mouth).

Most of these birds, of course, were high in trees or much further away that our photos suggest (thank God for zoom-lenses) … but each of them more fascinating than I can say.

Highlight of the day at Lake Manyara were the zillions of pelicans and yellow-billed storks that were feeding, bathing, squawking and flapping about in the shallow, alkaline waters! A most amazing sight!

Wednesday: AMBOSELI

Framed against the glorious backdrop of Africa’s highest peak, the magnificent pink-tinged snow-capped Mt Kilimanjaro, Amboseli National Park provides the classic movie image of an African safari park. The mountain remained hidden behind cloud most of yesterday, but it cleared yesterday afternoon. And, speaking of movies, we saw one last night, about this park’s most famous four-legged mother: Echo, the elephant.

Amboseli is home to one of the few large elephant populations in all of Africa that hasn’t been ravaged by poachers – and we enjoyed the spectacle of jumbo-sized families on the move: big mommas, their playful youngsters, and the occasional oversized bull – plodding patiently across the dusty plains, and feasting greedily on tasty salads while standing up to their haunches in muddy swamps.

Anyway, enough for now about elephants. I’ll tell you more next time I write …

Yours bloggedly – JOHN

P.S. Would you like to join us on our NEXT AFRICAN SAFARI? We’ll most likely go again in 2020 (three years from now). Get in early, so you don’t miss out! Register your interest now by calling Dianne on 0508 323 333 or emailing midlifemadness@travelmanagers.co.nz.

P.P.S. If you want to receive future Mad Midlife Travel Blogs in your INBOX, just sign-up (top-right) for your free Email Subscription! And if you’d like to leave a message for someone in our group, just click on the little speech bubble at the top of this entry, and add your comments! (Keep it brief – and be sure to say who it’s for and who it’s from.)

It’s safe to say, I reckon, that very few people go on safari without wanting to see a LION. I mean, no single animal is more representative of Africa than the mighty King of Beasts … followed close behind by the other cats that help make up the Big Three: LEOPARDS and CHEETAHS.

It was therefore with growing impatience and anticipation that our Kiwi Mad Midlifers completed Day #1 … Day #2 … Day #3 … and Day #4 of our safari without having seen even one of the big three cats. We saw oodles of everything else, but no lions … no leopards … and no cheetahs.

It wasn’t until Day #5, in the Masai Mara, that the drought finally broke. WOW – did it EVER! And you aren’t gonna believe what I’m about to tell you …

It started in a small way with CHEETAHS: Those of us who did the balloon safari saw one in the far-off distance. (Correction: we couldn’t really see much without a zoom-lens or binoculars.) And the five Kiwis who hadn’t come ballooning were visited by another cheetah that walked right up to them in their 4WD. Yeehaa!

Later that same afternoon, we saw our first LEOPARD: Again, we couldn’t really see it – it was too well hidden in the long grass. (I’ve already posted the only halfway decent photo, snapped by Denise when this big male cat put his head up, briefly.)

Then 10 minutes later we saw (I kid you not) some LIONS: Three of them (a male and two females) were asleep by the roadside, and we’d blindly driven right past them. It was only on our return trip down that same road that they chose to get up and go walkabout.

Two days later, in the Serengeti National Park, the LION-sightings came thick and fast:

We stumbled on a healthy looking female with three good-looking school-age cubs, resting out in the open after (what we assume was) a busy night.

An hour later we spotted a handsome, golden-maned male, lying semi-alert in the shade, not bothered in the slightest by our close proximity.

Sleeping not far away was his mate. She soon woke and wandered over for a friendly head-rub, then left him alone to wash his face and do his hair.

Next came the highlight of the morning: two affectionate adult females (probably sisters) plus, their four very young cubs, well-hidden in some bushes and cute as buttons. The grownups had killed a wildebeest during the night, and the cubs soon found the carcass, turning it into a plaything while their mums watched on, yawning hugely.

We saw several more lions that day, with or without cubs. Then finally, shortly before heading back to our safari lodge for another excellent buffet dinner, our driver spied something rather unusual: a young male lion sitting in the top of a bushy tree!

The following morning we were at it again, watching another lion-family having breakfast along a dried-up riverbed, tearing hungrily into what was left of a zebra.

Our lion-parade just went on and on: lions sleeping (which most of them seem to do most of the day) … lions perched on a fallen tree-trunk … lions eyeing up their next meal out there on the grasslands … lions mating (or, at least, taking a break from the act, which may occur 20-40 times a day!) … and, only yesterday, members of an 18-strong pride having a final gnaw on a wildebeest’s ribcage before wandering off across the Ngorongoro Crater to order a drink.

We couldn’t believe our luck. In fact, as of this morning (believe it or not) we have seen a grand total of 80 different lions and lion cubs! That’s right, EIGHTY!

But wait: it hasn’t just been lions. Three days ago (on Saturday) we got up-close-and-personal with a beautiful female LEOPARD. She had climbed high into a big tree to eat, sleep, read, whatever. And when we first saw her she was straddling a stout branch, facing the wrong way, her legs and tail hanging down. However, over the next 15-20 minutes, she moved several times, giving us the chance for some face-shots before she lay down and went back to sleep.

But wait: there’s still more! The day after, we spotted a CHEETAHsitting upright in the tall grass. A group of Thompson’s gazelles was grazing a long way off, and he/she (not sure which) was checking them out, trying to decide whether one of those dainty antelopes was worth a legendary, high-speed chase. This stunning, sleek, athletic cat was too busy (we assume) thinking of lunch to even notice us as we photographed him/her from every angle …

Yours bloggedly – JOHN

P.S. Would you like to join us on our NEXT AFRICAN SAFARI? We’ll most likely go again in June 2020 (three years from now). Get in early, so you don’t miss out! Register your interest now by calling Dianne on 0508 323 333 or rushing an email to midlifemadness@travelmanagers.co.nz.

P.P.S. If you want to receive future Mad Midlife Travel Blogs in your INBOX, just sign-up (top-right) for your free Email Subscription! And if you’d like to leave a message for someone in our group, just click on the little speech bubble at the top of this entry, and add your comments! (Keep it brief – and be sure to say who it’s for and who it’s from.)

You probably think we’re swanning around on holiday over here in Africa – right? Well, think again! This is work … hard work! I’m talking early mornings … fast-paced days … tiring drives … and never a dull moment. Plus, each night over dinner, we’ve got to listen in to the latest America’s Cup racing. It’s tough, I tell you. And I’m having great difficulty finding time to squeeze out more blog posts.

Anyway, enough complaining. Here, for your enjoyment, is another belated update about where we’ve got to on our wild Mad Midlife Safari … plus more selected images of Africa and the amazing wildlife we’ve been privileged to meet.

Wednesday: HOT-AIR BALLOON SAFARI

We celebrated our second day in the Masai Mara wildlife reserve by going airborne in a hot-air balloon … taking off just before sunrise … enjoying magnificent views of antelopes, buffalos, elephants and giraffes from way-up-high … then landing in the open grasslands for a classy champagne breakfast.

Thursday: KIRAWIRA

Today, after crossing the Kenya-Tanzania border at Isebania, we enjoyed a two-night taste of Africa in the old tradition – at Kirawira: another luxury tented campsite, this time perched on a hill with uninterrupted views of the Western Serengeti Plains.

The Serengeti, with its wide open spaces, is the most famous wildlife sanctuary in the world. The lush vegetation around Kirawira is home to heaps of animals and abundant birdlife. And we drifted off to sleep each evening with the night-time grunting of wildebeest and yipping of zebras that were gathering in their countless thousands on the sunburnt vastness below us, preparing for their annual migration. When the rains start in Kenya, they will stream northward – obeying an instinct so strong that no drought, gorge, charging lion or crocodile-infested river can hold them back.

Saturday: CENTRAL SERENGETI

The Serengeti is everyone’s dream of Africa … and one of the last places on earth where the Big Five is out in force, and such large numbers of animals can still be seen at-home in their natural habitat.

Last night we slept in individual thatched ‘rondavels’ (domed huts) – another true ‘out of Africa’ experience we’re unlikely to forget in a hurry, thanks in no small measure to visitors the resort had throughout the evening: zebras stealing a drink from the swimming pool, and several large, aggressive cape buffalos making a nuisance of themselves right outside our huts! (As has happened already on previous nights, we needed armed escorts with powerful torches to accompany us to and from our rooms. Exciting …)

Sunday: NGORONGORO CRATER

We arrived here late this afternoon, after a lengthy, bouncy, dusty, teeth-rattling romp across the endless Serengeti. Our lodge-for-two-nights is clad in river-boulders, cloaked in creepers, and set high up on the rim of the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera: the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater, identified as a World Heritage Site, and rated the Eighth Wonder of the Natural World.

Bright and early tomorrow morning, we’re going down onto the crater floor to meet some of the thousands of animals, large and small, that have made themselves at home in this remarkable location. Tell you more soon.

In the meantime, don’t forget to click on the pix below for some extra comment:

Back in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, we were shown around a CHIMPANZEES sanctuary – for orphaned or abandoned chimps.

A mid-sized antelope, the HARTEBEEST has a long narrow face and horns that look like a TV antenna.

This little BLACK-BACKED JACKAL was foraging in the long grass, and seemed a bit camera-shy.

This colourful HADEDA IBIS was one of numerous birds we spotted along the shores of Lake Naivasha.

This colourful AGAMA LIZARD (about 30 cm long) was sunning itself on a rock near one of our toilet-stops.

Our eagle-eyed driver spotted this handsome CARACAL too far away from a decent photo, but we had to try.

These large, robust WATERBUCKS with shaggy coats and striking horns have turned up all over the place.

Yet another large-ish antelope with strange blue markings, this TOPI male was taking a break after hours on sentry-duty

No doubt about it, PINK FLAMINGOS, like these we saw on Lake Nakuru, are real eye-catchers.

We caught this very large CROCODILE warming up on the banks of the Mara River. Shame it wouldn’t turn and face us.

You run into some pretty weird wildlife out there on those game-reserves!

Here they are, the WILDEBEEST – not the prettiest animal we’ve encountered, but a much-loved lunch for lions and hyenas.

We’ve already seen lots of weaver-birds, but this little SPEKE’S WEAVER deserved a shot, I reckon.

Too far away for a good photo, this CHEETAH was just a tiny upright blob – until enlarged by our zoom-lens.

Sunrise over the Masai Mara – as seen from our hot-air balloon!

COMING UP: We meet the Big Cats, in a very big and exciting way! You won’t want to miss this …

Yours bloggedly – JOHN

P.S. If you want to receive future Mad Midlife Travel Blogs in your INBOX, just sign-up (top-right) for your free Email Subscription! And if you’d like to leave a message for someone in our group, just click on the little speech bubble at the top of this entry, and add your comments! (Keep it brief – and be sure to say who it’s for and who it’s from.)